Chips Are Back on the Menu: Bitcoin Sprints to Two-Week High Near $65,500 🥔

Bitcoin climbed to about $65,500 on Tuesday, a two-week high, as the semiconductor selloff that dragged crypto lower last week reversed and Asian chip stocks led a broad risk rally. The largest cryptocurrency rose 1% on the day and 5% on the week, with roughly $33 billion changing hands. Ether was the stronger of the two majors again at $1,922, up 3% on the day and 8% over seven sessions. XRP added 3% to $1.13 and is up 6% on the week, Solana rose 2% to $78, BNB held at $574 and dogecoin was flat. Hyperliquid's HYPE gained 4% to $63 but remains the only major underwater over the week.

The rebound started where last week's damage did. MSCI's Asia Pacific equities gauge climbed 2%, its first gain in four sessions, with Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor the biggest contributors. South Korea and Taiwan benchmarks each rose about 4%, and a tech-heavy mainland China gauge jumped almost 7% as state-linked institutions stepped in. Japan's Nikkei rose 3% after slipping into correction on Friday. The Chinese AI shock that hit chip stocks last week has, for now, given way to buyers returning to the same names.

U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs drew inflows for a fifth straight session totaling more than $600 million, the most sustained institutional buying since mid-July and a reversal of the eight-week outflow run that ran through late June. Oil, which had climbed for two days on the war, pulled back, with Brent falling 1% to about $88.58 as Iran said mediators were circulating proposals to ease hostilities, including a reported suggestion for a 10-day halt in strikes. Traders see the Federal Reserve's late-July meeting as the key test for the rally, with subdued spot volumes and the prospect of further rate hikes limiting conviction.

"Current bitcoin and ether prices are low but fair, given the macro uncertainties pervading markets," said Jeff Mei, chief operating officer at Steakhouse Financial. The move marked a sharp reversal from last week, when the same chip-led risk-off trade dragged Bitcoin below key support levels and pushed Ether to multi-week lows.